“legend having it a foolish king of the ancient Chinese Qin dynasty, upon seeing a deer, fatuously said ba instead of ka, and was the first to have earned himself the nickname baka” Read the rest of this entry »

Famous historic Chinese figures etc are usually known by the Japanese pronunciation of their names, so showing the names’ Chinese pron would only confuse people. There is also the fact that Chinese names have various pronunciations for the same kanji depending on whether you are speaking Cantonese, Mandarin etc, which is not a problem in Korean

My personal theory is that being a pedestrian is being part of a group and so the usual Japanese social pressure to conform exists, whereas the route, speed etc of cycling is totally individual and therefore you are totally free. As a pedestrian in Japan, it is also possible to switch off totally just by following the person in front, so jumping the lights or even looking at them can just seem like a pain.

According to Ben Hills in Princess Masako, because it usually comes when the plums are ripening. Makes sense, and clears up one that I have always vaguely wondered, but never remembered to research when I had Google handy

According to Shutting Out the Sun, because “with the previous decade’s deflation and the consequent erosion of land prices in Tokyo’s best neighbourhoods, the real estate needed for such a large project had become cheap enough…to acquire” pg 150